Three Cal State University Long Beach students were honored in Bonn, Germany last weekend for their participation in the Bonn International Model United Nations (BIMUN).
Senior political science majors Dina Al-Hayek, Justin Patrick Benning and Leanii Garcia were all awarded for their participation in the international event.
“It was an amazing experience,” said Al-Hayek, who is also a columnist for the Daily 49er. “Just getting to meet people from all over the world who share your same passion for solving world conflict, environmental challenges, world poverty, and so on. I loved every second of it.”
Al-Hayek and Benning received honorable mentions for their representations of Estonia and Bolivia, respectively, and Garcia’s committee voted her “Silent Power,” for her influential role in the passing of its resolution.
While some of their awards were not as prestigious as others, the three winners were thankful for the experience.
“It was incredible to be in Germany surrounded by people from all over the world just as passionate about politics as I am,” Garcia said.
The CSULB delegation was led by political science professor Larry Martinez and included the three award recipients as well as senior political science major Seth Roach. Benning was proud to represent CSULB’s political science department.
“I feel that this was a great experience in expanding my intercultural communication and negotiation skills,” he added.
All BIMUN participants had to apply and be accepted by the UN academic simulation. Participants couldn’t represent their own country.
The even took place from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4 and is one of many worldwide UN academic simulations.
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